Foundations Era

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Foundations Era

• 8000 BCE 600 CE

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Major Themes of the Foundation Period

• Interaction and exchange
• Urbanization
• Nomadic peoples
• Axial Age
• Empires
• Development and spread of religion
• Rise of civilizations

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What is a civilization?

• Origins of the word
• Standard criteria
• Use of term?

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Civilization?
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Population

• Demography the study of the distribution,
  density, and vital statistics of populations
• What factors influence growth and decline?

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World Population Growth
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Top 10 Cities of the Year 100

1. Rome 450,000
2. Luoyang (Honan), China 420,000
3. Seleucia (on the Tigris), Iraq 250,000
4. Alexandria, Egypt 250,000
5. Antioch, Turkey 150,000
6. Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka 130,000
7. Peshawar, Pakistan 120,000
8. Carthage, Tunisia 100,000
9. Suzhou, China n/a
10. Smyrna, Turkey 90,000

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Role of Climate and Geography in Early Societies

• How were early societies affected?
• How do you think early peoples responded?
• What difference would geography make in the long
  term development of a society?

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Nomadic Peoples

• Hunting-gathering lifestyle (!Kung people)
• Labor/leisure
• Population growth
• Gender relations

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Early Migration
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Modern Nomads
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Rise of Agriculture

• Spontaneous separate developmentwhy, where,
  when?
• Diffusion of specific plants and techniques

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Spread of Agriculture
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Rise of New Technologies

• Stone
• Fire
• Bronze
• Iron

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Early Societies

• Mesoamerica
• Egypt
• India (Indus)
• China (Shang)
• Mesopotamia

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Compare and Contrast

• Shared Features?

• Unique Characteristics?

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Urbanization

• Comparisons between urban, pastoral, and nomadic
  life
• How might gender roles be affected as people
  settle?

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Classical Societies

• Axial Age
• Why then?
• Results
• Religion
• Politics
• Social structure
• Gender relations

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The Thinkers of the Axial Age
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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Polytheisms
• Hinduism
• Judaism
• Confucianism
• Daoism (Taoism)
• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Islam

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Polytheism(s)

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Hinduism

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Judaism

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Confucianism

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Daoism (Taoism)

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Buddhism

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Christianity

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Origins of the Worlds Belief Systems

• Islam

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Spread of the World Belief Systems
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Empire Buildingand Collapse

• What does an empire require?
• What do its subjects expect?
• Symbols of legitimacy
• Why does an empire fall?

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Symbols of Legitimacy
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Achievements

• Greek science and philosophy
• Roman law and architecture
• Political organization in Han China
• Spiritual and artistic developments in Gupta India

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Interregional Networks of People by 600 CE

• Silk Roads
• Mediterranean trade
• Indian Ocean trade
• Meso and Andean American trade

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Silk Routes
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Mediterranean Trade Routes
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Indian Ocean Trade
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Conclusions

• How do we know what we know?
• How does change happen?
• What results stem from interaction through
  migration, trade, or pilgrimage?
• Why do world historians need to pose questions
  differently than regional historians?